PPC Report Template Checklist

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a model of internet marketing where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Simply put, PPC is a way of driving traffic to your site through ads. It is a well-known and successful marketing technique.

In-fact, 74% of brands say PPC is a huge driver for their business. 

Whether you want to use PPC to market your business, or you already have PPC accounts up and running, you’ve come to the right place!

However, please note that this is a monthly review checklist. If you are looking for an in-depth framework that covers the core focus areas for a new campaign. Or if you are looking to perform an extensive quarterly PPC audit then follow this checklist.

Alternatively, to view all of Process Street's PPC checklists, including weekly campaign reviews click here. 

This PPC Report Template was created to guide you through the most important aspects of a monthly account review. Specifically, reviewing KPI's, campaign settings, keywords, quality score, and so on. This streamlined process allows you to focus your energy on getting great ROI on your accounts. 

You will want to customize this template to your specific processes for PPC campaigns. This PPC Report Template should be used as a general framework for your monthly account review.

Before you get stuck in, here is a little bit about us:

Process Street is super-powered checklists. It’s the easiest way to manage your recurring tasks, procedures, and workflows.

Create a checklist template and run individual checklists for each member of your team. You can check tasks off as you work through them, set deadlines, add approvals, assign tasks, and track each team member's progress.

You can also connect to thousands of Apps through Zapier and automate your workflows even more.

Let's get started. 

For a re-cap on what PPC is and why it is useful, watch the YouTube video below. 

The first step is to record basic information about the account that will be reviewed. Below you can input all vital account information.

If you plan to send the completed report then enter the details of the recipient in the last two form fields below. 

PPC Metrics and KPIs

Review all key performance indicators (KPIs).

If you need a refresher on specific PPC metrics please review this article by Unbounce.

After managing an ad account for a month or so, you should have a clear idea of what your most important PPC metrics are. Below we have listed some common KPI's that are tracked in a campaign.

Remember to tailor this list to align with your specific goals. 

Select all KPI's being tracked:

Look over your current campaign settings and make sure everything is properly selected.

Accounts settings should be regularly reviewed for each ad campaign that you create. This is where you can tailor your targeting options and determine your total ad spend associated with clicks or conversions.

Follow these instructions to access the campaign settings tab:

1. Sign in to Google Ads.
2. From the page menu on the left, click Settings.
3. Click the name of the campaign that you'd like to edit.
4. Click the setting that you’d like to edit.
5. Edit the setting and click Save.

Pro Tip: Run through the PPC Audit Checklist for step by step instructions on how to review each of these sections. 

Check ads to ensure that all sitelinks are properly setup.

Include as many relevant links to support your ads as possible.

According to Google, your ad could show up to 8 sitelinks at any one time. By setting this up properly you can create clear user paths that increase lead to conversion rates.

Sitelinks allow you to deliver specific information (such as product details, store hours, etc...) under your main ad that will direct the user to that specific landing page. 

Ensure your landing page is set up effectively and check it's not having a negative effect on your campaign.

Use the form fields after the subtasks to record the landing page information and any relevant notes. 

Pro Tip: Be sure to read this great article on 15 Landing Page Best Practices to Boost Conversion. 

Analyze account keywords and determine if changes need to be made.

After a month of running your ads, you should have a good amount of data that has populated the keywords page of your ads account. You can use this information to identify high and low performing keywords. 

This gives you an opportunity to assess keywords and ad relevance. A helpful tip is to remove any keywords that have zero traffic. You should also look for new trends or keywords that could help improve your ad conversion rate.

One good source for keyword research is Google Trends. We have included a video below to discuss this further. 

Ensure remarketing campaigns are properly set up.

While you review your remarketing campaigns be sure to also look over the campaign conversion rates. Are they what you had expected? If anything looks incorrect then you should start with the basics and investigate your setup. If everything is running correctly but you're still above your CAC (customer acquisition cost) goal then revisit your audience targeting selection and ad copy. 

For information on how to calculate CAC, check out this blog by Neil Patel.

You should be reviewing campaigns regularly to make sure everything is running smoothly. Use the following three subtask items to guide you in your review. 

Analyze the performance of your ad campaigns.

There are multiple ways to review your campaign performance.

You can pull reports based on campaign type, setup pre-defined column sets, and view cross-campaign performance utilizing interaction columns.

Another reporting view that we find very useful is the Auction insights report. This report lets you compare your ad campaign performance to others who are participating in the same action. The data from this report can help you make better strategic decisions within your bidding and budget strategies.

While reviewing the report you should be able to identify where your campaigns are succeeding and where you are missing out on new ad opportunities.  

The auction insight report, which is available for both search and shopping campaigns, provide six different statistics:

1. Impression Share
2. Average Position
3. Overlap Rate
4. Position Above Rate
5. Top of Page Rate
6. Outranking Share

Be sure that you segment your report based on time and device for additional insights.

To access the auction insights report follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Click the campaigns, ad groups, or keywords page menu based on what information you want to see in the report.
3. Select a specific campaign, ad group, or keyword by checking the box next to each item. Note: you can only select keywords on a single page at a time (unless you run a report for “All”).
4. Click on auction insights.
5. You'll now be taken to your Auction insights report. Note: only keywords and ad groups that meet a minimum threshold of activity will have the Auction insights report.
6. If you selected only Search or only Shopping campaigns or ad groups, you'll see the corresponding Auction insights report. 
7. If you selected a mix of Search and Shopping campaigns or ad groups, you'll need to select the search campaigns or shopping campaigns radio button.

Check the quality score of your ad.

Ideally, your quality score will be at least 7 or above. 

If your quality score is below 7 then you are wasting funds by driving traffic that isn't converting. To mitigate this, review the keywords being used and make sure they align with the ad copy and landing page that you have created.

To check your quality score in your Google Ads account follow these simple steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. In the page menu on the left, click keywords. 
3. Hover over a keyword’s status in the “Status” column. You'll be able to see ratings for expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience.

Make sure that your budget has been appropriately distributed amongst ads and campaigns.

While reviewing your campaigns the first thing you will want to do is verify if your daily, weekly, and monthly allocated budget is being fully utilized.

If you notice non-performing campaigns this is an opportunity to re-work the ad copy, targeting, and keywords. You can also stop those campaigns and focus on further optimizing well-performing campaigns. Be sure you have collected enough data to make an informed decision.  

Summarize all insights from your monthly campaign review.

It is good practice to always document the insights of your monthly report every time you use this PPC Report Template. The results will prove useful when analyzing changes in the account. 

Create your PPC report.

When putting together your report include the following:

• Positives
• Negatives
• Insights
• Action Items

To help we have included some of the data you provided earlier:

Action Items: {{form.Action_items_2}}                   

Budget Notes:   {{form.Budget_notes_2}}     

KPI's: {{form.KPI's}}   

KPI Notes: {{form.KPI_notes}}

Insights: {{form.Insights}}      

Landing Page Notes: {{form.Landing_page_notes}}     

Quality Score: {{form.Quality_score}}      

Modified Keywords: {{form.Positives}}   

Positives: {{form.Modified_keywords}}            

You can use Zapier to generate a pdf or Google Doc containing this report.

This is the end of the PPC Report Template Checklist. The data you inputted for each step has been compiled into a final report which you can view above. You are presented with the option to create an automation process that will export your report from this checklist as a google document or PDF.

For instructions on how to create this automation using Zapier visit our help site.

Once you have created the Zap, whenever you run this checklist an external report will be generated automatically with one click.

After your report is complete you will want to email it or print it. 

PRO TIP: A great way to merge your data from Process Street with your report is through our integration with WebMerge. 

To send the email you can use the email widget below. All you need to do is customize the message and upload your file. 

Then just make sure everything looks okay and hit "Send".

Sources

• Spider Group - What types of PPC are there?
• Klipfolio - What is a KPI?
• Larry Kim - What Is PPC? Learn the Basics of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing
• Bethany Bey - PPC Task Checklist for Account Success
• Elisa Gabbert- 20 Minute PPC Checklist
• Jacob Baadsgaard - These Are the PPC Metrics That Actually Matter
• John Clark - 3 Critical PPC Tasks
• Oli Gardner - A 50 Point Checklist For Creating the Ultimate Landing Page

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